04 December 2013

Sometimes in life it
feels like everything that can go wrong does, but everything happens for
a reason. A relationship crumbles so someone else can mend the pieces
of your broken heart. A change of plans can lead you to something you
didn't even know you were missing. We help others and discover that it
was us who needed to be helped all along.

Jenn's life is nothing
as she had imagined it would be. She is twenty-something with a failing
career and her love life has officially ended with an ultimate act of
betrayal. She is ready to throw away her dreams when a chance run-in
with a soldier, dealing with his own misfortunes, altars her course and
changes her perspective on life.

Everything happens for a reason.

* Originally published under the title "Suicide Note".

This is the third book that I have read by this author. With
all of the glowing reviews, I thought I'd give her another chance, however I am
now reminded why I didn't really like the other two books I've read by her.

Let me being with the positives. I liked the
general plot of the book. It's a bit predictable, but the suicide note is a
twist and not something I've seen done before. I also really liked the
characters. Jenn is sweet and smart and Shane seems like a nice guy. Plus, he's
a sexy military man and you can't really go wrong with that.

What really bothers me about this book (and the
others) is the flow. It just seems as if there is no depth to the writing.
Events happen out of seemingly nowhere, because there's no buildup that takes
you to the event, it just kind of happens. For example, in the part where Jenn
questions their future together, he hastily gets off the phone with her
thinking she wants to break up. A few paragraphs later, he says he should
apologize and let her know that he sees a future with her. I guess he ends up
doing it because the next thing you know it flashes to a month or so later and
they're still together saying that they love each other. In another part, he
seeks out his father, whom his relationship with is apparently the cause of a
lot of his issues in life. That's pretty much all that is said about it, that
he meets him and "understands" him better. Well, what does he
understand exactly? Why did his father not take care of him after his mother
died? Why has he never contacted him? Why was he gone all the time and so angry
in Shane's memories? This is one of the major plot points of the book and we
are given nothing, just that he apparently has worked it all out. The entire
book was like this. To be perfectly honest, this just seems like half of a
book. I need more as a reader to get involved in the story and the characters.
I need to know the details. I guess that's what I'm saying this style of
writing is lacking for me, the details.

I give this book 2.5 stars, because while I
didn't particularly enjoy the writing, I did finish it and I did like some
things about it. It had potential, but it just didn't do it for me. I certainly
admire the ability to write a book and put yourself out there as an author, so
I hope she doesn't take this personally. It is, after all, only one opinion.